Image forming devices place an image on a media sheet thus producing an imaged output. The image forming devices include a paper path for moving the media sheet and receiving the image. The paper path may include a first path for forming an image on a first side of the media sheet, and a second path for forming an image on a second side of the media sheet.
The image forming device also include doors which open and close to allow access to the paper path. The doors allow for paper jams to be accessed and removed without disassembling the image forming device.
Previous image forming devices have used multiple devices for sensing and directing the media sheets. In one prior device, a first sensor was used to sense a media sheet moving into a first predetermined area of the paper path. A second sensor indicated the media sheet entering into a second predetermined area of the paper path. Further, a diverter was positioned to direct sheets between the first path and second path depending upon whether imaging occurred on both sides of the media sheet. Additionally, another sensor indicated whether the access door was in an open or closed orientation. Thus, four separate sensing and directing devices were used within the image forming device.
Price is often a driving factor weighed by consumers when purchasing an image forming device. Often times, price is the primary requirement in the purchasing decision, with other machine parameters being of secondary importance. Therefore, design implementations with several different operations performed by a single element are advantageous. The multi-functional element is a less-expensive alternative. As always, quality of the formed images should not be degraded by the multi-functional element.